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User blog:Porterfield/Skyfall Review Roundup
Skyfall is finally in theaters worldwide, and it has been getting amazing reviews from audiences and critics alike. They love the breathtaking work by director Sam Mendes (who cut his teeth directing plays) and cinematographer Roger Deakins. They love Javier Bardem's creepy, Julian Assange-like villain Raoul Silva. They love the Bond girls, Bérénice Marlohe and Naomie Harris. Most distinctively, however, they love Daniel Craig. Many critics have written that Skyfall has solidified the actor's place as the best to portray the character of James Bond. Astoundingly bold statements, but great news for anyone planning to see the movie this weekend! For me, the most interesting element of this film's success is the inconsistent Bond sandwich that is Craig's trio of films. Casino Royale was highly praised, whereas Quantum of Solace is widely regarded as garbage. I think the message is clear: don't start production with an unfinished script. Anyway, check out the reviews below. If you're not convinced to see this movie, you must be clinically insane. After you see Skyfall, please vote in the poll below and share your own review in the comments section! Loved It 'Mahohla Dargis - New York Times' Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars Excerpt: Whether Mr. Mendes is deploying an explosion or a delectable detail, he retains a crucially human scale and intimacy, largely by foregrounding the performers. To that end, while “Skyfall” takes off with shock-and-awe blockbuster dazzle, it’s opulent rather than outlandish and insistently, progressively low-key, despite an Orientalist fantasy with dragons and dragon ladies. 'Betsy Sharkey - LA Times' Score: 4 out of 5 stars Excerpt: If "Skyfall" is the new 50, James Bond is handling it remarkably well. Five decades after the first cinematic incarnation of 007, novelist Ian Fleming's agent provocateur, the spy-craft in the new film is sharper, the intrigue deeper, the beauties brighter (more brain, less bare). 'Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times' Score: 4 out of 4 stars Excerpt: Just as Christopher Nolan gave rebirth to the Batman movies in "The Dark Knight," here is James Bond lifted up, dusted off, set back on his feet and ready for another 50 years. 'Peter Travers - Rolling Stone' Score: 3.5 out of 4 stars Excerpt: If you can forget the putrid follow-up to Casino Royale that was Quantum of Solace, then Skyfall continues James Bond's backstory with staggering style and assurance. This is Bond like you've never seen him, almost Freudian in his vulnerability. And a dynamite Daniel Craig, never better in the role, nails Bond's ferocity and feeling. 'Claudia Puig - USA Today' Score: 3.5 out of 4 stars Excerpt: The 44-year-old Craig owns Bond now. He's a 007 who's no super-hero, with his graying stubble and slight tremor when firing a gun. Those details help humanize the ultra-suave character. Craig is still believable as a guy who can leap on a moving train and tussle with a bad guy. And, terminally cool, he looks ever-dashing in an exquisitely tailored suit. 'Richard Roeper' Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars RoeperSkyfallReview 'Christy Lemire - Associated Press' Score: 4 out of 4 stars Excerpt: Still, this 23rd entry in the enduring James Bond franchise is no downer. Far from it: simultaneously thrilling and meaty, this is easily one of the best entries ever in the 50-year, 23-film series, led once again by an actor who’s the best Bond yet in Daniel Craig. 'Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly' Score: A Excerpt: Of all the marvelous feats that make Skyfall such a thrilling addition to the James Bond movie canon, the greatest may be that the 23rd entry conveys the melancholy of loss, mortality, and future-shock anxiety, while at the same time leaving us plenty of space to enjoy one of the most complexly unhinged villains in Bond history. 'Ann Hornaday - Washington Post' Score: 3 out of 4 stars Excerpt: One of the marks of a good director is the taste and judgment with which he deploys the most cherished tropes of the franchise he’s in charge of extending. With “Skyfall,” Sam Mendes proves to be just that adept, reinvigorating the James Bond series with a sleek, crisp, classy installment exhibiting just the right proportion of respect for legacy and embrace of novelty. 'Peter Howell - Toronto Star' Score: 4 out of 4 stars Excerpt: Skyfall so successfully blends the old and the new of Bond mythology, looking so boldly toward Bond 24, it’s possible to think we may be celebrating a 007 centennial in another 50 years. It could make you fall for James Bond all over again, or to discover him at the moment of his vital rebirth. Thought It Was Okay No top critics thought Skyfall was just okay. If you find a mediocre review, please post it in the comments section below. Hated It No top critics hated Skyfall. If you find an extremely negative review, please post it in the comments section below. Wikian Reviews What did you think of Skyfall? Best. Bond. Film. Ever. Brilliant. One of the best. It was pretty good. Meh. It was okay. I hated it. Please post your own reviews in the comments section below. NO SPOILERS please. __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Blog posts